The River Valley Arts Center is thrilled to be able to bring a fabulous family oriented produc-tion of The Wizard of Oz to the River Valley. Actual dazzling flying scenes rarely seen in the Russellville area are in this live theatre performance and will captivate audiences as it has in sold-out performances throughout the world.

The Wizard of Oz will open Friday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. and continue Saturday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee on Sunday, June 23 at 2:00 p.m. It will continue on the following week-end Friday and Saturday June 28 – 29 at 7:30 and the final performance will be a matinee on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. June 30.

All performances are in The Center for the Arts on the campus of Russellville High School. “Before the opening of this outstanding facility we did not have the capability to perform the exciting flying sequences so we are all delighted that we now have the opportunity to showcase the impressive talent of local actors with epic music performed by a live orchestra. It also gives even the very young actors and those in the audience an exciting and thrilling event they will remember forever,” said John Gale, Arts Center president of the board of directors.

In addition to the flys, one of the most striking elements of this production is the setting in which it is presented. You are in for a double treat if you haven’t attended a performance in The Center for the Arts, a 1,900 seat, state-of-the-art theater built on the campus of Russellville High School for the benefit of the school and the community. This is a perfect setting for this well-known and loved adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic story.

This version is the more technically complex production and uses as much of the aura of the film as possible to create in a modern theatre. This is an adaptation for live stage performance, even while it strives to look and sound just like the famous film in telling the story.

Tickets are $16 for adults (age 18 to 59) $12 for Arts Center adult members, senior citizens over age 60 and students age 13 to 17. $8 for youth age 4 to 12, free for age 3 and under.